The Department of the Air Force awarded Boeing a contract for 22 F-15EX Eagle II aircraft under Lot 7 - preserving the buying power of congressionally provided reconciliation funding and sustaining F-15EX production.
The Lot 7 agreement accounts for current programmatic realities, including the effects of the 2025 production disruption and broader inflation across the defense industrial base. Through focused, complex negotiations, the F-15 Program Office and Boeing reached an agreement that maintains the procurement of all 22 Lot 7 aircraft within available funding.
"Lot 7 reflects a disciplined approach to executing available resources while balancing the realities affecting defense production," said Brig. Gen. Timothy Helfrich, portfolio acquisition executive for the Fighters and Advanced Aircraft Directorate. "The team remained focused on affordability, production continuity and delivering the aircraft needed to modernize the U.S. Air Force's fighter fleet for the threats we face today and into the future."
The F-15EX is a modern, multirole heavy fighter that builds on the proven F-15 design. The aircraft incorporates advanced avionics, large-area displays, digital backbone architecture and enhanced survivability capabilities. It is intended to replace aging F-15C and F-15D aircraft while providing a platform for continued modernization as operational requirements evolve.
The Lot 7 award also demonstrates the application of the Secretary of War's acquisition transformation principles by empowering an integrated F-15 negotiation team to rapidly deliver capability. The team synchronized expertise across functional areas, elevated issues requiring senior-level decisions, and maintained accountability for cost, schedule, and aircraft quantity - demonstrating the speed, disciplined execution, and mission-focused accountability central to the warfighting acquisition system.
This award followed extensive collaboration among program management, contracting, pricing, engineering, financial management, logistics and other acquisition professionals. The team assessed the impacts of changing production conditions and inflation, aligned the aircraft procurement with available funding, and completed the action before the fiscal-year deadline.
Senior department leaders supported timely coordination and decision-making throughout the process. Their engagement enabled the team to address complex affordability and execution challenges while maintaining focus on the program's operational purpose: delivering modern fighter capability to Airmen.
"The Lot 7 award demonstrates what is possible when the acquisition enterprise moves with purpose, remains accountable to the taxpayer and stays focused on delivering capability to the warfighter," said Col. Jonathan Varoli, system program manager of the directorate's F-15 Program Office. "This effort brought together the right expertise, at the right time, to achieve an outcome that strengthens the F-15EX program and supports the future fighter force."
The Department of the Air Force will continue working with Boeing to support rapid, affordable and sustainable F-15EX production. The Lot 7 award sustains the program's near-term production effort while the Air Force continues to assess future requirements and acquisition strategies.
